At the ceremony, AL Secretary General Amr Moussa dismissed anIsraeli accusation that Arafat had been an obstacle to the MiddleEast peace process, slamming Israel of manipulating it as an excuse for evading the peace talks.

"Israel rather wants to use him as a pretext for more dodgery,"Moussa stressed.

Arab diplomats mourned the death of Arafat, who was a long-termsymbol of the Palestinian struggle for statehood."Although Arafat is physically dead, his ideas would remain alive deep in human minds," said Mauritanian's AL representativeSidi Mohamed Ould Fal.

Arafat passed away at the age of 75 on Thursday in a Frenchhospital. He was buried Friday at his headquarters in the West Bankcity of Ramallah following a funeral service in Cairo attended bydignitaries from around the world.

The late Palestinian leader had a most difficult time during the last years of his life, termed as an obstacle to the peace processby Israel and shunned by the United States.

However, Palestinians and many other Arabs as well as theinternational community consider him as one of the greatest leadersever in the Arab world.

Arafat's death was mourned in many parts of the world, including a special session dedicated to his memory at the United Nations on Thursday.